Procycling brings you the colour, action and drama of the world's most spectacular sport in a glossy and dynamic magazine. It's the authoritative, worldwide voice of international professional road racing, distributed in every country where there are English-speaking fans. With exclusive features and spectacular photography, Procycling brings to life the complexities, rivalries and hardships of the European professional scene.

Cycling Plus is the manual for the modern road cyclist. Whether you're cycling weekly, an occasional new rider or a Tour de France fan you’ll find everything you need. Every issue is packed with expert reviews of the latest road bikes and gear, inspirational routes and rides, evocative features that take you inside every aspect of cycling and unmatched nutrition, fitness and training advice.

What Mountain Bike is the magazine that gets to the heart of what matters in mountain biking. Whether it’s new bikes, fresh kit, inspiring photography or the low down on the latest trail developments, What Mountain Bike has something for every rider. Our team cuts through jargon and marketing spin to tell you what you need to know, with honest, informed opinions and a wealth of experience.

Mountain Biking UK celebrates everything that is great about mountain biking, enabling people of all abilities and ages to have a better time on their bike. MBUK brings you all the latest news, coolest kit, plus exclusive info on the newest and best bikes that you can buy.

Tony Martin's (Omega Pharma-QuickStep) Specialized S-Works Shiv sits on the work stand a few hours before his start in the 2012 Tour de France prologue

James Huang/Future Publishing

The threaded bit on the bottom of Tony Martin's Specialized S-Works Shiv stem acts as a barrel adjuster, pushing a piece of housing that's embedded inside

James Huang/Future Publishing

Tony Martin had a fleet of Zipp aero clincher wheels at his disposal for the prologue, including these carbon-rimmed flat clincher discs - which aren't even listed on Zipp's website

James Huang/Future Publishing

A digital clock lets all the Rabobank riders keep track of time while warming up

James Huang/Future Publishing

Rabobank brought their own misting machine to help keep riders from overheating during the warm-ups

James Huang/Future Publishing

Rabobank's Giant Trinity Advanced SL handlebars debuted four years ago but still look modern

James Huang/Future Publishing

Giant's rear-mounted front brake was a novel idea when it was introduced but we expect the next generation to be better integrated

James Huang/Future Publishing

Rabobank's Giant Trinity Advanced SL time trial bike

James Huang/Future Publishing

Saddles took a slight tilt upward on many bikes to help riders maintain their positions while tucked. The UCI recently decided that add-on friction material wasn't allowed unless it was built into the saddle

James Huang/Future Publishing

This Rabobank rear wheel was unlabeled but looks like a HED disc to us

James Huang/Future Publishing

There's a lot going on around the bottom bracket of RadioShack-Nissan-Trek's Trek Speed Concept time trial bikes, including a battery mount, hidden rear brake and wireless speed and cadence sensor

James Huang/Future Publishing

This giant decal covers up the carbon 'spokes' of a Lightweight disc wheel

James Huang/Future Publishing

The ultra-clean front end of RadioShack-Nissan-Trek's Trek Speed Concept

Lotto-Belisol captain Jurgen van den Broeck had a new Campagnolo disc wheel fitted to his Ridley Dean today. We don't have specific details on it at the moment but the full carbon construction is certainly lighter than the model Campagnolo currently offer, and the freehub body is properly sized for an 11-speed cassette

James Huang/Future Publishing

The split-blade fork on Lotto-Belisol's Ridley Dean time trial bikes is said to pull air out and away from the wheel

James Huang/Future Publishing

Lotto-Belisol's Ridley Dean time trial bike

James Huang/Future Publishing

Lotto-Belisol riders were using a new Lazer time trial helmet during the prologue. In keeping with current trends, there are no forward-facing vents (probably for better aerodynamics). Two lateral ridges on the top are presumably there based on results from wind tunnel testing

James Huang/Future Publishing

Campagnolo's new EPS time trial shifters were installed on the Lotto-Belisol team bikes

Tony Martin's (Omega Pharma-QuickStep) Specialized S-Works Shiv sits on the work stand a few hours before his start in the 2012 Tour de France prologue

James Huang/Future Publishing

The threaded bit on the bottom of Tony Martin's Specialized S-Works Shiv stem acts as a barrel adjuster, pushing a piece of housing that's embedded inside

James Huang/Future Publishing

Tony Martin had a fleet of Zipp aero clincher wheels at his disposal for the prologue, including these carbon-rimmed flat clincher discs - which aren't even listed on Zipp's website

James Huang/Future Publishing

A digital clock lets all the Rabobank riders keep track of time while warming up

James Huang/Future Publishing

Rabobank brought their own misting machine to help keep riders from overheating during the warm-ups

James Huang/Future Publishing

Rabobank's Giant Trinity Advanced SL handlebars debuted four years ago but still look modern

James Huang/Future Publishing

Giant's rear-mounted front brake was a novel idea when it was introduced but we expect the next generation to be better integrated

James Huang/Future Publishing

Rabobank's Giant Trinity Advanced SL time trial bike

James Huang/Future Publishing

Saddles took a slight tilt upward on many bikes to help riders maintain their positions while tucked. The UCI recently decided that add-on friction material wasn't allowed unless it was built into the saddle

James Huang/Future Publishing

This Rabobank rear wheel was unlabeled but looks like a HED disc to us

James Huang/Future Publishing

There's a lot going on around the bottom bracket of RadioShack-Nissan-Trek's Trek Speed Concept time trial bikes, including a battery mount, hidden rear brake and wireless speed and cadence sensor

James Huang/Future Publishing

This giant decal covers up the carbon 'spokes' of a Lightweight disc wheel

James Huang/Future Publishing

The ultra-clean front end of RadioShack-Nissan-Trek's Trek Speed Concept

Lotto-Belisol captain Jurgen van den Broeck had a new Campagnolo disc wheel fitted to his Ridley Dean today. We don't have specific details on it at the moment but the full carbon construction is certainly lighter than the model Campagnolo currently offer, and the freehub body is properly sized for an 11-speed cassette

James Huang/Future Publishing

The split-blade fork on Lotto-Belisol's Ridley Dean time trial bikes is said to pull air out and away from the wheel

James Huang/Future Publishing

Lotto-Belisol's Ridley Dean time trial bike

James Huang/Future Publishing

Lotto-Belisol riders were using a new Lazer time trial helmet during the prologue. In keeping with current trends, there are no forward-facing vents (probably for better aerodynamics). Two lateral ridges on the top are presumably there based on results from wind tunnel testing

James Huang/Future Publishing

Campagnolo's new EPS time trial shifters were installed on the Lotto-Belisol team bikes

This year's Tour de France began with a 6.4km prologue around the urban streets of Liège, Belgium – a pan-flat, blisteringly fast course that Fabian Cancellara (RadioShack-Nissan-Trek) completed with an average speed of 53.21km/h (33mph). Bike choice for the course was all about aerodynamics and efficiency, not weight.

Most of the gear was rather standard stuff, but a recent UCI technical ruling factored in. The sport's governing body have decided that add-on friction material (grip tape, for example) on saddles and handlebars will not be permitted if it wasn't built into the original product itself.

In other words, components with integrated friction features such as TT-specific saddles from Prologo, Bontrager and others are okay. But even bicycle-specific accessories such as Fizik's Grip Strip are not. How conventional bar tape fits into this scheme is currently unclear.

Riders still occasionally have a hard time maintaining their positions in the saddle, though, and now have to resort to other measures to add grip. Without the ability to increase friction, they've been tilting their saddle noses upwards slightly, maxing out the three degrres of variance currently allowed by the UCI.

We saw a lot of saddles marked with adhesive from recently removed tape

There were a few new bits in the team pit areas, too. Lotto-Belisol captain Jurgen van den Broeck's Ridley Dean was fitted with what we're told is a new disc wheel from Campagnolo, which will likely replace the Ghibli. We have no confirmed technical information at present, but the full-carbon construction is guaranteed to be heaps lighter than the Ghibli, with its aluminum tire bed and heavy sides. Van den Broeck's disc wheel was also equipped with an 11-speed cassette, which won't fit on a Ghibli.

Lotto-Belisol riders also sported new Lazer aero helmets for the prologue. In keeping with recent trends, the new lid has no forward-facing vents, in an effort to improve aerodynamics. There's also a gigantic shield to divert air around the face. Also visible were two ridges running left to right – perhaps an offshoot of similar features used on the team's time trial bikes intended to keep air 'stuck' to the surface.

Lotto-Belisol riders were sporting time trial helmets from Lazer

We didn't see any new items in the Saur-Sojasun team area but did spot one peculiarity. Time are the team's official bike sponsor but two camouflaged Trek Speed Concepts were hidden among the sponsor's RXR aero bikes.

Check out our image gallery for more tech stories from the Tour de France 2012 proglogue.